MDC-Renewal attacks MDC-Tsvangirai

The MDC Renewal Team has attacked the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC, for derailing the country's economic recovery by remaining in election mode.

Spokesperson for the Renewal Team, Jacob Mafume, reiterated his faction's recent statement that Zanu-PF won last year's 31 July harmonised elections without doubt.  He said the country should now shift focus to reviving the economy.

Said Mafume: "People voted for Zanu-PF. Many, including civil servants, were gullible to Zanu-PF election promises. They were promised poverty datum line salaries and teachers' leaders were heard celebrating the news prematurely, as they dined with Zanu-PF ministers only to be disappointed after the elections. There are many people that I know whom I met in queues openly telling me that they intended to vote for Zanu-PF. They went on to vote for Zanu-PF and told us that we (MDC-T leaders) were getting carried away with power in the inclusive government."

Mafume, who was addressing Gweru journalists yesterday, said the electorate should take responsibility for the election results as they indeed voted for Zanu-PF.

Mafume said people should be made to understand that there is direct link between their vote and the way they are going to live for the next five years.

"Now that the economy is not functioning and pre-election promises are yet to be met, some people now claim the elections were rigged. We know people voted for Zanu-PF. We should not make excuses for the electorate."

He said it was "idiotic" for anyone to think that it was possible for the country to hold fresh election anytime soon.

He said the two MDCs and other opposition forces should shift from election mode into helping revive the country's economy.

"We should focus on the economy and play our role as the opposition by keeping the ruling Zanu-PF on its toes. We are the opposition and we will tell them where they go wrong. There is an overdose of elections in the country and this tends to affect efforts to revive the economy. The focus should now be on fixing the economy. People need to breathe.

"Zanu-PF did whatever they did but the fact remains they won the elections. Let them govern for the benefit of everyone and work towards reviving the economy. Even if we hold elections, Zanu-PF will win again.

"This is evident in the by-elections that have been held in the country so far. In any case, who will fund the elections? Certainly not the overburdened taxpayer," said Mafume.

The Renewal team spokesperson denied that they were a splinter group of the Morgan Tsvangirai MDC.

He said the renewal team remained the same MDC guided by the party's founding principles of social democracy.

"We are the same old MDC and this is why we suspended Morgan Tsvangirai and six others for failing to adhere to the party's pro-democracy policies and founding principles. We are unlike Tsvangirai and his team because we follow the party policies. Tsvangirai is a simple man who is not bothered with necessities. I like his simplicity. He just announces in public, at a rally, "aah uya Biti ndamudzinga, ndamudzinga'', what is next? (I have fired Biti). It gives him peace of mind and good sleep when he does this. We are different from such leadership in the Renewal Team. We follow the party policies and take people through processes. That is why we summoned Tsvangirai and the six others to a hearing before suspending them," said Mafume.

He added: "People cannot be led by a leadership as represented by Tsvangirai whose best memories are the best price of beer in another country called Rhodesia, people whose memories are the colour of the women they used to date then. We want a new generation of leadership whose focus is on the economy."